LIEPAJA, Latvia – Slovakia won the Group A of the Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualification and have advanced to the Final Olympic Qualification.

Slovakia started with a pair of two-goal wins against Latvia (2-0) and Italy (3-1). Next, the Slovaks beat Croatia 18-1, and finally handed newcomer Bulgaria a record 82-0 loss in a game with 139-0 shots-on-goal tally.

International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) confirmed the new record score for a women’s IIHF-sanctioned event. However, it didn’t beat the 92-0 win of South Korea over Thailand in the men’s 1998 Asia-Oceania U18 Championship.

Slovakia will play the Final Olympic Qualification, November 6-9 in Bad Tölz, Germany.

(IIHF; illustration photo: Slovak women’s ice hockey team / TASR)